Everything To Me
by KaelynAnne
Summary: When AJ kidnapped Michael, Morgan and Kristina he also took Sam....and got much more than he bargained for because of it.
1. Underneath the Night

Disclaimer: All characters belong to the creators of General Hospital.

Author's Note: The title for this story comes from the JJ Faris song that was used on GH on October 31, not the Liz Phair song.

Everything To Me: Chapter One

Sam McCall slowly opened her eyes and looked around as she sat up. The last thing she remembered was going to the kitchen to get something to eat and then she'd felt a sharp pinch in her arm. Now she was in unfamiliar room and all she could hear was the sound of yelling coming from the next room.

That at least was familiar, because she recognized one of the voices. It was Michael. She couldn't make out exactly what he was saying, but he did not sound happy.

She forced herself to sit up and breathed a sigh of relief when she felt the baby kick. At least whatever drug she had been given hadn't affected her daughter.

Ignoring the way her head still swam, she stood up and followed the sound of the voices. When she got to the living room, she found Morgan and Kristina sitting on the floor playing with toys, completely oblivious to the stand-off taking place just a few feet from them.

In the center of the living room Faith Rosco stood, staring down at Michael. The look on her face suggested that she was far from pleased. "Listen to me, you little brat. This kidnapping scheme wasn't my idea and that's the only reason I haven't killed you yet."

"Who are you working for?" Sam demanded, making her presence known.

"Sam!" Michael exclaimed, running to her. "Do you know why we're here?"

"No, I don't. I wish I did, sweetie. But you know what? The bad lady is right. Kristina and Morgan are too young to understand what's going on. All they know is that their mommies and daddy aren't here so they need you to be brave and take care of them, okay?"

"My new baby sister needs me too, right?"

"That's right. She does."

Faith rolled her eyes. "You know, this is so sweet I think I might actually throw up on myself."

"Then why don't you leave?" Sam snapped, glaring at the blonde. "I mean, I would hate for you to ruin such a nice outfit."

"That's not a bad idea. Now that you're awake, you can take care of these little urchins. It'll be good practice." After casting a glance at Sam's belly, Faith sauntered out of the cabin.

"Do you know her?" Michael asked.

"Not really, but I know she's done some bad things and this is definitely the worst of them."

"Why did she kidnap us?"

"I don't know that either. So what were you and Faith arguing about?"

"Morgan's running a fever and she wouldn't go get him any medicine."

"Okay, let's see how hot he is." She walked over to where Morgan and Kristina were then knelt beside them and placed her hand on Morgan's forehead. "Yeah, he's pretty warm."

"What do we do?"

"You stay here with him and I'll go check the bathroom to see if there's any medicine. Surely whoever kidnapped three kids and a pregnant lady and dumped them here wouldn't be stupid enough to leave us without the basics."

Michael nodded and took Sam's place as she left the living room. "It'll be okay, Morgan. Sam's going to take care of us. She won't let anything bad happen."

A couple of minutes later, Sam came back into the living room with a brand new box of children's Motrin.

"Is my brother really sick?"

"No," Sam assured the little boy. "He probably just has a cold. In a couple of days he'll start feeling better." She opened the bottle then more the allotted amount into the plastic measuring cup. "Alright, Morgan, can you be a big boy for me and take this medicine?" She brought the cup to the little boy's mouth then tilted it so he could drink the medicine. "You're such a good boy," she praised as she closed the bottle.

"He really likes you," Michael told her as she stood up and put the medicine on a table.

"What about you? Do you like me?"

"I do now. I'm sorry I was so mean to you before."

"Michael, it's okay. I understand that you wanted your parents to be together again."

"What's going to happen when my sister is born?"

Sam sighed and reached for Michael's hand. "Come on, let's go sit down and talk about this."

"How do you like your accommodations?"

Michael and Sam turned when they heard the new voice. "AJ?"

"I was going to keep my identity a secret until it was time for the next part of my plan, but it turns out that my associate has a problem with kids, particularly my son, so I had to step in."

"You are not my father!" Michael protested.

Sam placed a calming hand on his shoulder. "Michael, why don't you go check on your brother and sister?"

He nodded in agreement and after shooting one last glare at AJ, turned and ran from the room.

"You know, if this situation wasn't so pathetically sad, I would laugh."

"At what?" AJ questioned.

Sam smiled and gestured to herself and the back of the cabin where Michael, Morgan, and Kristina were. "You can't even pull off a kidnapping without screwing it up."

"Hey, I haven't been caught."

"Not yet, but if you get rid of Faith, which you'll eventually wind up doing, what makes you think she isn't going to run straight back to Port Charles and tell Sonny everything?"

"I'm paying her ten million dollars."

"And you think that's going to get her to keep her mouth shut? Faith can't be trusted, AJ. If she thinks it will benefit her, she'll betray you in a second and never have a single doubt."

"How do you know that?"

"Because I've heard all about the things she's done and because I used to be her. Before I got pregnant, I did whatever I had to in order to survive. I wasn't as ruthless as Faith, but I didn't give a damn about loyalty."

"If this is an attempt to talk me out of my plan, it's not working."

"I'm not trying to talk you out of anything. All I want to do is give you fair warning. What you do with it is up to you. However, I think you should know that I'm not going to make things easy for you or that blonde bitch. I'll fight like hell to make sure my daughter and those three kids return to their parents safe and without any psychological scars."

AJ shook his head in amusement. Sam had fire and he liked that about her, but she talked too much and he could see her shaping up to be a major problem. "I'll take your warnings into consideration, Ms. McCall. But I'm also going to be generous and extend one to you. Consider your pregnancy as an immunity card. Until you give birth you're safe, but the second you bring your baby home from the hospital, all bets are off. I won't hesitate to do whatever it takes to keep you in line. And you might want to tell Michael the same thing."

"I know you have a lot of problems, but would you really hurt your own son? More than you already have?"

"I wasn't referring to myself. I was talking about Faith. She has a short temper and she may not remember the orders that I've given her."

Sam's eyes flashed angrily as she placed a hand on her belly. "Anyone who touches any of these kids better pray that I never find out because I'll kill them."

AJ nodded, realizing for the first time that maybe he had underestimated Sam. From what he'd seen of her personality so far, she was turning out to be a match for both him and Faith. "I'll make sure she knows."

"You do that," she agreed.

"I'll be back later. Until then, make yourself comfortable."

"Thanks for the invitation," she retorted dryly.

* * *

"Sam seep?" Kristina asked, placing her little hand over Sam's.

"Not right now, but I want you to be a smart girl and go to sleep like you would if you were with your mom, okay?"

Kristina nodded and Sam smiled. Thankfully, Morgan and Kristina were still young enough that they didn't understand what was happening. All they knew was that they had their big brother and he would keep them safe.

"Sing," the little girl requested tiredly.

Sam was eternally grateful that the audience she had now was unforgiving. Her singing voice definitely left something to be desired.

She looked over to where Michael had just finished changing his little brother into his pajamas and motioned for him to come over.

"Do you guys want me to sing to you?"

"I think it would help my brother and sister get to sleep," Michael responded.

"What about you?"

"I'm too old for lullabies."

The tone in his voice made Sam laugh. "How about this? Tonight I'll sing, but tomorrow night I'll read one of the books that I saw in here earlier. Deal?"

"Deal."

"Alright." She took a deep breath and hoped that her voice wasn't too terrible.

"The sun's fading out of sight,Baby dear, Baby dear;  
But I'll be close by all night,  
So do not fear.  
Within your little room,  
Shadows creep,  
The shadows creep,  
But love watches over thee,  
Love watches over thee.  
Sleep!  
Do not fear;  
Sleep,  
Baby dear!

When shadows of darkness fall,  
Through the night, through the night;  
God's arms wrap around us all,  
We're safe tonight.  
The light may seem to fade;  
Shadows creep,  
The shadows creep,  
Still God watches over thee,  
God watches over thee.  
Sleep!  
Do not fear;  
Sleep,  
God is near."

Sam finished singing and looked down to see that Kristina had fallen asleep in her lap. As she stood up with the little girl she noticed that Michael and Morgan had also fallen sleep.

It wasn't a very long lullaby, but she knew that the kids had been here for almost three weeks before she'd gotten here so she suspected that the presence of someone they knew they could trust combined with the soothing song had put them to sleep more quickly than they would normally go.

She knew what it was like to be a kid in an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar people and she was glad that she could finally offer them some comfort.

Once they were all in their beds, she walked down the hallway to the living room and then out to the front porch.

She still didn't know what AJ's endgame was, but she would figure it out and then she would stop it. Because whatever he had planned couldn't be good. Otherwise, he wouldn't have needed to kidnap all of Sonny's children. The most important thing, however, was getting those children back to him.

"What are you doing out here?"

"Looking at the stars. Is that against the rules?" she snapped, leveling him with a glare.

AJ laughed as he began climbing the stairs that led up the porch. "This whole resentment thing was kind of cute, but it's already getting old."

"That's just too damn bad. There's nothing you can do to change how I feel. You can threaten me all you want, but my attitude isn't going to change. I will do whatever it takes to protect these children from you and Faith."

"Even if it results in your death?"

"If it means Kristina, Morgan, and Michael are safely returned to their parents then yes, I would die for them."

* * *

AJ let out a sigh as he poured himself a glass of brandy. What the hell had he been thinking? He could still go through with his plan, but it wasn't going to be as easy as he'd originally thought.

First, there was Faith who would do anything do get her hands on a large amount of money. That was how he'd gotten her to do this in the first place. What he hadn't taken into account was the fact that she was impatient and had a quick temper. And then there was the vital piece of information that Sam had given him.

If Faith really was as disloyal as she'd said, he'd have to take serious preventative measures to keep her from talking.

Then there was Sam. He'd met her a few times after she'd first come to Port Charles, but she'd taken an instant dislike to him and as a result, their paths hadn't crossed much. And that was why he found himself in the position he was in now, dealing with an incredibly pissed off pregnant lady.

After telling him that she would die to protect the children, she'd gone to tell AJ exactly what she thought of him in very colorful terms. And while he'd found her rant amusing, he had also been given another glimpse of the fire that was part of her personality.

He'd once again been intrigued by the way she stood up for herself and didn't back down no matter how many threats he threw her way. However, her personality could also turn out to be a problem.

He could already see her trying to escape once she had her daughter. AJ hated the thought of having to stop her because even now, when she was seven months pregnant, Sam was an attractive woman and if her personality was any indication she would be unbelievable in bed.

Letting out another sigh, he took a sip of his drink and let his thoughts turn to his son. Michael was the entire reason he'd come up with this scheme.

He was tired of being cut out of his son's life and since he knew Carly would never let them see each other, he had taken matters into his own hands.

Maybe it wasn't the greatest plan in the world, but it was the best one that he'd been able to come up with. But much like the way he'd underestimated Sam, he'd underestimated his son.

Today had been the first time that he'd revealed himself to his son, but the anger in Michael's voice when he'd announced that AJ wasn't his father had only been a preview of what lay ahead. Getting Michael to accept what he'd been told countless times wasn't important would be difficult enough as it was. With Sam around it would be damn near impossible.

And even though he had already threatened to kill her if she got in his way, he knew that most likely he wouldn't go through with it. If anything happened to Sam, the one person that Michael knew he could trust in all of this, his chances at getting through to his son would completely disappear.

Still, no one was going to get in his way so he would have to find a way to subdue Sam, but he'd worry about that later. Right now, he needed to think of a way to start making inroads with Michael.


	2. Midnight Whispers

Disclaimer: Riley belongs to me. All other characters are property of the creators of General Hospital.

Everything To Me: Chapter Two

Sam lay on her side, content to listen to the breathing of the three children just down the hall. As long as she could hear them she knew they were okay and that was why, two days after she'd been brought to the cabin she had demanded several sets of baby monitors. AJ had refused at first but when she'd pointed out that having the monitors would make it easier for her to make sure that Michael was okay he had quickly agreed.

She had been here for a week and a half and things weren't much better than they were the day she'd arrived. The only major difference was that after a month, Morgan and Kristina were finally starting to realize that their parents weren't going to be there anytime soon and they had become more difficult to entertain and keep calm.

That had made dealing with Faith extra fun. The short-tempered blonde that AJ had appointed to play guard for his hostages had snapped at the children on more than one occasion, but she had quickly realized that she'd met her match in Sam.

Anytime Faith made some smart-ass comment Sam came right back with her own retort, never giving an inch.

It was the same way with AJ. The only difference was that with him, there was something beneath all the sniping and semi-civil conversations.

However, she wasn't about to explore that underlying element because somewhere, in the recesses of her mind, she knew what it was and she didn't want to admit what she already knew she would find.

Even now she found that just the thought of being attracted to AJ was disturbing. He had, after all, kidnapped a pregnant woman and three innocent children. She wasn't about to apply that word to herself. Just using the word in the same sentence with her name was laughable.

Sam shook her head, clearing it of those dark thoughts. This wasn't the time for self-analyzation. She needed to keep a clear head and try to formulate an escape plan. She would of course have to wait until after she gave birth and then give both her and her daughter a couple of weeks to recover.

This was not going to be easy. Already she was going to have to wait a couple of months and who knew where they would be then. She had no idea how long AJ planned to keep them wherever it was they were now.

That was another item on her growing to-do list. Finding out where they were would make it that much easier to escape and give them a clean shot of getting away without being caught.

Not getting caught was presenting enough of a problem as it was. She wasn't that worried about Michael. He could walk and run and listen to commands with no problem. Pulling off an escape with a two-year-old, a one-year-old, and a newborn was going to prove challenging, but she wasn't going to let anything stop her. She never had before and she wasn't about to start now.

Most people would find a challenge like the one she faced daunting and give up, but Sam wasn't most people. The obstacles that she faced would only add to her adrenaline rush and right now, they increased her desire to be back in an action-filled situation.

Becoming pregnant might have mellowed her out, but it had also increased her desire to protect herself and the people she cared about, however few they might be.

Until she figured out how to get them out of here, however, she had to find a way to deal with AJ and Faith, which wasn't going to be easy. Both of them were starting to grate on her nerves.

The sound of crying drifted through the baby monitor and Sam smiled as she sat up. At least until she could put her plan into motion she had a way to keep her mind off of how serious this situation was.

* * *

"Michael, sooner or later you'll have to accept that I am your dad."

"No, I won't. I already have a dad and I don't need another one. I don't want another one! Especially not if it's you. You mean nothing to me, AJ. I hate you!" Michael kicked AJ in the shin as hard as he could, hatred shining in his eyes.

The look on the little boy's face scared Sam. He was way too young to be feeling that intensely. Maybe AJ wasn't the model father, but neither was Sonny. He and Carly had given Michael whatever he wanted and let him escape without punishment countless times and as a result, at just five-years-old, he believed that he could get whatever he wanted by throwing a tantrum and he was already modeling the vengeful way Sonny acted when he or someone he loved got hurt.

One of the first things she planned on doing when they got back to Port Charles was talking with Sonny and suggesting that he and Carly set boundaries for Michael and Morgan as well as Kristina when she was at his house. Michael was a brilliant, funny little boy and she would hate to see him become so self-absorbed that his other qualities faded into the background.

Until then, she had to wonder why AJ kept engaging Michael like this. He wasn't going to make any progress if he kept trying to force his son to bond with him. In the end, it was only going to backfire and ruin whatever he had planned.

Still, she couldn't help feeling bad for AJ. All he wanted was to get to know his son and every effort he'd made so far had been rebuffed. Granted, his technique needed a little work, but Sam could definitely relate.

She held the same fear about not being able to connect with her own child. Their situations were vastly different but the fear was the same.

"Listen to me, you spoiled rotten brat," AJ snapped, grabbing Michael's arm and jerking his son toward him.

Any sympathy Sam had felt for her captor quickly disappeared. "Hey, let him go!"

Michael tried to pull away, but AJ's grip was too tight. "You're hurting me," he whimpered.

"You hurt me," AJ retorted.

"He's five-years-old, AJ. You're twenty-five. You're hurting him a lot worse than he hurt you. Let Michael go."

"What are you going to do if I don't?"

"Keep holding him that way and you'll find out."

AJ laughed, but still didn't let go of Michael. "You're pregnant."

The look Sam gave him instantly sobered him. He'd never seen anyone look at him that way. Not even Sonny. "Don't underestimate me, AJ. That's the worst mistake you could ever make."

Deciding that now wasn't the time to test that theory, AJ let Michael go and watched his son all but run to where Sam was standing on the other side of the living room and lock his arms around her legs.

"Are you okay, baby?" Sam asked.

"No, he hurt my arm," Michael responded.

Sam shot AJ a dark look as she took Michael's hand. "Let's go see how bad it is."

"I don't want to leave my brother and sister alone with him."

"They'll be okay. AJ and Faith both know better than to hurt kids that are as little as they are."

Another pointed look was thrown at AJ as they left the living room and he was left standing there wondering just what he'd gotten himself into.

* * *

Sam quietly padded through the living room and into the kitchen, trying desperately not to wake any of the kids up. Getting them to sleep tonight had not been easy and she didn't want to repeat the process. Michael hadn't posed a problem, knowing that Sam would protect him and his brother and sister, but Kristina and Morgan were too young to understand that. They just knew that this wasn't where they were supposed to be and no matter how hard Sam and Michael tried, they had refused to be comforted. At least at first, and then exhaustion had won out.

Now her daughter was the one keeping her awake. She'd managed to get about an hour and a half of sleep before she'd been woken by kicks and somersaults. While she loved feeling her child move within her, tonight all she wanted was too sleep.

That was why she was up at two-thirty in the morning pouring water into a coffee mug then putting it in the microwave. Hopefully some tea would help calm her daughter. And her own nerves. She didn't blame Morgan and Kristina for being so upset, but the constant crying was starting to wear her down. She prayed that in a few weeks they would adjust to their new surroundings. It was a long shot, but she wasn't giving up hope.

"You couldn't sleep either?" AJ asked, coming into the kitchen.

She rolled her eyes as the microwave beeped. "Don't tell me that you've suddenly developed a guilty conscience and it's keeping you awake."

"No such luck, sweetheart."

His flippant attitude was starting to piss Sam off. Didn't he even have a sliver of a conscience anymore? She was beginning to have her doubts, but on the small chance that he did, he'd buried it so deeply that no one would be able to reach it. Apparently that was how he could take three small children from the only homes they had ever known and not feel a bit of remorse about it.

"All the crying earlier has given me a migraine."

"Well, that's the price you pay for kidnapping two toddlers. Just wait until there's a newborn in the house. All they do is cry." The thought of AJ dealing with a newborn brought a smile to Sam's face as she put a tea bag in her cup. That at least would bring her some joy. Seeing him suffer would be one of the few bright spots in this mess.

As he went to the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of water Sam noticed, for the first time since AJ had come into the kitchen, that he wasn't wearing a shirt. The only article of clothing that he had on was a pair of navy sweatpants.

Sam's mind went into overdrive as she noticed how his biceps flexed as he opened the bottle and how his muscled chest and rock hard abs tapered down to his lean waist and—she ripped her eyes away from his form as they moved lower. Damn pregnancy hormones.

They were always making her notice things she shouldn't notice. And right now they were acting like a magnet, trying to pull her to AJ. But she wasn't about to let that happen. No way was she going to give him the satisfaction of knowing that she found him attractive.

"Like what you see?"

AJ's voice pulled her from her thoughts. The smile on his face instantly pissed her off.

He'd been counting on this, the smug bastard. The look in his eyes gave it all away. Part of his plan had depended on her being attracted to him so that she would be willing to help him out, but it wasn't going to happen.

Even if she did feel an attraction she wasn't about to make anything the tiniest bit easier for him.

"No, I don't." She sighed and took a sip of her tea. "While you're here, I think we should talk."

"About what?"

"The way you grabbed Michael this afternoon. AJ, you can't do something like that and then still expect him to trust you and you can't keep forcing him to try and bond with you. All it's going to do is push him further away and make him resent you more than he already does."

"And I suppose you have some brilliant suggestion."

"Actually I do. Let us go back to Port Charles because what you want is never going to happen. Too much has happened between you, Jason, Sonny, and Carly. Michael knows that. He doesn't know all the details, but they've given him the basics. He's never going to trust you, AJ, and now he's going to resent you for taking him away from his parents. And sooner or later you will get caught especially with a newborn and two toddlers."

"Don't count on it, sweetheart."

She rolled her eyes as she finished her tea. "Suit yourself but I'm telling you, this whole thing is going to blow up in your face. Think about it," she advised as she left the kitchen.

* * *

"SAM!"

Seconds later Sam came into the living room, holding Morgan. "You bellowed?" she questioned dryly, fastening the last strap on Morgan's overalls.

"Yeah, I did," Faith snapped, holding a squirming Kristina out toward Sam. "Do something with this."

"Okay, first of all, "this" is a little girl and her name is Kristina. And second, a child isn't like a pair of shoes, you can't throw her in the closet when you're tired of dealing with her."

"Save the lecture and take the little monster."

"Michael, will you come take your brother?" Sam asked, already putting the toddler down so his big brother could take his hand.

"Come on, Morgan, let's go play with cars, okay?"

Morgan babbled a response causing Sam to smile as the two brothers walked over to where Michael had been playing with toy cars all morning.

When she saw Morgan pick up a car, she turned back to Faith and took Kristina from her. "It's okay, angel baby. I've got you. You're safe now."

Kristina continued to cry as she laid her head on Sam's shoulder and Faith let out an exasperated sigh. "Isn't there any way to shut her up?"

"You can leave. That would be a big help." Seeing the blonde open her mouth, Sam ground her teeth in frustration. Faith was quickly becoming an annoyance to everyone, AJ included. "I don't care what AJ told you. All you do is upset Kristina and Morgan and you're not really helping anything. You're more of a hindrance."

"Do you have any idea how lucky you are that you're pregnant?"

Sam laughed as she began rubbing Kristina's back, hoping it would offer the little more comfort. "No, sweetie, you're the one who's lucky I'm pregnant. If I wasn't, you'd already be dead."

She shouldn't have said that in front of Michael, but anytime Faith was around, Sam's patience quickly reached its limits. "Now why don't you be a good little servant and do as I originally suggested?"

"This isn't over," Faith warned.

"No, it isn't," Sam agreed. "But when it is over I can guarantee that you will have lost."

"Oh, we'll see about that."

"Yeah, we will."

"Why is she so mean?" Michael asked when Faith had left.

"I don't know, but let's not worry about that right now. Just keep playing with your brother while I take Kristina and get lunch ready."


End file.
